How To Spend The Perfect Weekend In Prague : Prague in 48 Hours

Prague is known as the Bohemian capital of the Czech Republic with its art-nouveau, quirky art and traditional cuisine. It’s no wonder why a weekend city break in Prague is the new thing to do. In this city guide I'll show you how to spend a weekend in Prague.

Confession time - this wasn’t my first time in Prague. But I can still remember vividly how the golden light from the sun washes over the cute pastel coloured buildings, revealing the intricate details of these centuries-old building. How every alleyway held cute shops waiting to be explored. A day was just not enough to see everything that this under the radar city had to offer.

So, I promised myself I would return for two to three day to discover more of Prague.

Prague has flown under the ‘destination to visit in Europe radar’ for a few years now. But this medieval city’s cobbled streets, narrow alleyways, pastel coloured building, Christmas and Easter markets, unique art, cheap and easy accessibility from major European cities. Prague is now the ideal weekend gateway destination and short breaks.

Prague is not a big city and most tourist spots are close together, easily reached by walking or the Metro and Trams.

This Prague itinerary will give you a glimpse of what you can do with 48 hours or 3 days in Prague.

How to spend the perfect weekend in Prague!

How To Get To Prague

Prague is easy to get to from most European cities. Flight’s from Heathrow are relatively cheap and can be found for as little as £50 on British Airways (using your Aviso points), EasyJet or Skyscanner.

Within less than 2 hours you’ll be at Vaclav Havel Airport Prague.

How to get to Prague from the airport - The Vaclav Havel Airport Prague is 23 minutes (17.2 km) drive from Prague.

Where To Stay In Prague

As Prague is divided into districts (like the zones in London), you’ll find that each district has a different vibe and cost of hotels will vary. With Prague 1 (Old Town Square) costing more than those in Prague 9 or 10.

As I didn’t want to spend too much money on a hotel knowing that I would be spending most of my to time out exploring the city. I chose a relatively inexpensive boutique hotel ‘The Pentahotel’ in Prague 8. Which is not located in the tourist area but still central enough (2 minutes’ walk from the Metro) and was only 4 stops away from Old Town Square.

This guide breaks down the best things to do in Prague in a weekend.

I will provide a detail list of the best places to stay in Prague including the different neighbourhoods in another post.

Transport in Prague

I found Prague to be a very walkable city - except for Old Towns Square’s cobbled streets are a killer if you’re going to be wearing heel-ladies. If you don’t want to end up with a broken ankle. I suggest wearing cute, comfy trainers.

Everything can be accessed on foot with no fear of ever getting lost (check out the 5 travel apps I never travel without), as most streets guide you back to the market square. Public transport is inexpensive and easy to find, as the trams whizz up and down the street.

The best and cheapest way to get around Prague is by Tram or Metro.

For the Metro, there are 4 ticket options: 24kc for 30 minutes, 32kc for 90 minutes, 110kc for 24 hours and 310kc for 72 hours. If you’re planning to get on and off the tram to see sights along the way. I’d recommend the 24 hours ticket.

There is also a Prague card for tourist visiting the city for 2/3/4 days and offers access to unlimited use of public transport as well as discounts on entrance fee to participating tourist attractions, such as museums and attractions. Below I have listed some of these best things to do in Prague for your Prague city break.

Day 1 Things to Do in Prague

I woke up early so I could explore Old Town Square before it was flocked by tourist. Since I was visiting Prague over the Easter weekend and the cities is well known for its Easter Market.

The Old Town Square was buzzing with people walking around and taking photos of the Astronomical Clock, located on the south side old Town Hall Tower.

The clock shows the ‘walk of the Apostles’ can be seen first at 9:00 am and every hour until 11:00p. But unfortunately, the clock is under repair until August 2018.

There was a lot going on in the square with Easter decorations, giant Easter eggs, stalls being open and even a little petting zoo with a donkey for children - yes, you read that right there was a donkey in the middle of the square. These are just a few Prague points of interest and places to visit in Prague.

Approaching Old Town Square the first thing you will notice ascending into view is the Gothic building, Church of Our Lady Before Týn which signals you are in Old Town Square.

Other than the Astronomical Clock, there are many beautiful historic buildings to see in the square like the Gothic Church of Our Lady Before Týn which sits across from the Astronomical clock.

The beautifully adorn Rococo Kinský Palace which now serves as an art museum. These are some of the prime places to visit in Prague.

The striking monument to Jan Hus in the centre of the square is an impressive memorial commemorating his martyrdom.

These different sights had me looking up and taking tons of photos and walking back and forth through the square mesmerised. There are also other interesting building that surrounds the square. That I almost lost track of time for my Prague Food Tour.

Heading towards the tour I passed by The House at the Minute with its facade, decorated with sgraffito, depicting scenes from Greek mythological and biblical and is an example of Czech Renaissance townhouse architecture

What to eat in Prague - Prague food tour

I had booked the Eating Prague Food Tour for the first day of my weekend in Prague, which started at 12:30 pm. Read a full review of food tour to help you plan for things to do in Prague Czech Republic.

The walking Prague food tour explores both Old Town Square, New Town Square, Wenceslas Square. I found the food tour one of the more fun things to do in Prague.

After walking all day all I wanted to do was have an early night.

Places to see in Prague Day 2- Visit Prague Castle

For my second day in Prague, I arose early again to visit the famous Charles Bridge and the Prague Castle. I highly recommend visiting the Charles Bridge first thing in the morning as it gets very busying during the day. The bridge is one of the main Prague sightseeing attractions and one top things to see in Prague, so expect it to be busy or crowded during specific time of the days.

The Charles Bridge is a pedestrian-only bridge that crosses over the Vltava River connecting Old Town with Lesser Town

While walking to Charles Bridge at around 8:00 am in the morning. I could already see that crowds were heading in the same direction as me which was to the bridge.

Even on an overcast day, the Charles Bridge was still beautiful, it looks surreal like something from a postcard or a fairy-tale.

You’ll need to leave at less 30 minutes just to take in the various statues that line the bridge and the view of Prague Castle from the bridge.

Once you’ve crossed the bridge you can then take a tram up to the Prague Castle. The nearest Tram stop from the Prague Castle is Pražský hard with a 10 minutes’ walk up to the security checkpoint at the Castle.

The soldiers doing the security checks are friendly, but there’s only one way in via the checkpoint and only two of them checking bags so the line got ridiculously long at 11:30 am. When I was leaving the castle. The line almost ends halfway down the hill to the castle.

So, I suggest getting to the castle as soon as possible and know the sights that you want to see. Because I was busy taking photos and wandering around the castle seeing the grounds by the time I wanted to visit St. Vitus Cathedral it was a 2-hour wait in line.

So, I skipped it and continued my own self-guided tour of the castle grounds visiting Square of St. George, Courtyard, II. Courtyard, V. Courtyard, Jirska Street, East Gate - Opys

I would give myself around 2 hours to wander around the palace taking in the different building, information and photos.

I wanted to see the famous Prague Dancing House and luckily there are trams from the Malostranské náměstí stop (line 22 and 17) that takes you the stop Jiráskovo náměstí a few minutes’ walk from the Dancing House.

Which you can’t miss because the architecture sticks out amongst the Art Nouveau buildings surrounding it in the area. These are just a few Prague tourist attractions that you have to see if it's your first-time visiting Prague.

The Dancing House is also known as (Fred and Ginger) and was designed by Croatian-Czech architect Vlado Milunic, in cooperation with Canadian architect FrankGehry and completed in 1996.

The building's design is said to reflect a woman and man (Ginger Rogers and Fred Astair) dancing together.

Most people take photos of the Dancing House and then leave, not realising that there’s a cool rooftop cafe that sits on the 7th floor of the building. The Glass Bar, that allows you a spectacular panoramic view of the Vltava River and Castle.

You do need to order something from the cafe before you are allowed inside or onto the rooftop (great for crowd control) as space is small. Surprisingly, the coffee and cakes served at the cafe are inexpensive.

You do need to order something from the cafe before you are allowed inside or onto the rooftop (great for crowd control) as space is small. Surprisingly, the coffee and cakes served at the cafe are inexpensive.

If people do try to enter onto the rooftop without ordering from the cafe, they will be swiftly asked to order something or leave. There is no table service in the cafe and you’ll just have to wait for your drink before you sit inside or take your drinks outside onto a bench.

The service at the cafe wasn’t the best but I didn’t go there to drink coffee. I just went for the view of the city.

While on the Prague Food Tour we quickly pass by the famous statue of Franz Kafka, but I wanted to see it up close. So, that was my next stop after the Dancing house. These are some of the places to visit in Prague in 2 days.

The Dancing House is also known as (Fred and Ginger) and was designed by Croatian-Czech architect Vlado Milunic, in cooperation with Canadian architect FrankGehry and completed in 1996.

The building's design is said to reflect a woman and man (Ginger Rogers and Fred Astair) dancing together.

Most people take photos of the Dancing House and then leave, not realising that there’s a cool rooftop cafe that sits on the 7th floor of the building. The Glass Bar, that allows you a spectacular panoramic view of the Vltava River and Castle. This are just a few things to help you plan your next weekend break to Prague. You may also like my post on 20 of the best things to do in Prague.

The Franz Kafka statue is a cool installation to watch. You’ll see forty-two moving panels which forms the face of Franz Kafka. The panels move periodically by 90 degrees in layers conforming and disfiguring Kafka's face. The statue was created by David Cerny and is located in the Quadrio shopping centre.

I spent a good 10 minutes watching the statue form in various ways to re-create Kafka’s face.

I hope this weekend travel guide to Prague, helps you plan your next city break to this Bohemian capital.

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